Their poop is like pudding . . . What next?

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Without going into an overly long and detailed description, about a month ago, Charlotte got some sort of a virus, which Wally then caught. Both have had diarrhea (plus, vomiting early on and bloody stools), which I cannot get firmed up, despite multiple trips to see doctors and several different home-remedy food concoctions. Their BMs has been tested twice each, they have received fluids and anti-nausea drugs. Charlotte's blood was tested, as well. Both dogs are acting perfectly normal now. However, try as I might, I can't figure out how to get their bowel movements to be firm. We have tried various combinations of white rice, boiled ground chicken, probiotics, organic yogurt, pumpkin, psyllium, bentonite clay and slippery-elm bark -- and still, they have very soft stools. After the first two weeks of diarrhea, they were on flagyl. They have seen four different regular veterinarians at two offices, plus were examined and treated by an emergency veterinarian. Again, they are behaving like their happy selves, and other than loose stools, they appear to be healthy. What next???

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

My two love their food, and I am pretty certain that what they are experiencing now is totally unrelated to what they eat. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, though.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Were there other dogs at the dog sitters? Were your 2 dogs the only ones that got sick? I wonder if your pet sitter has an unhealthy yard. Although you would think if it was parasites, that it would have shown up at some point between the 2 dogs in their fecal tests. I am glad they are at least feeling better.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Our dog sitter is the senior technician at our vet's office, and she has been watching Wally and Charlotte for years and years. I have been in touch with her several times throughout the month, as we have tried to figure out how they got sick. Her own dogs were and are still fine, as is the other dog that was at her home at the same time as mine were. It's a mystery.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Jane that it's unlikely that both dogs started showing symptoms of a GI disease at the same time. I think they just need more time on the Probiotics, and increasing the amount would be a good idea. Run that by the vet, but keep in mind that the probiotic that Jane's Murphy and JD take contains 112.5 billion CFUs per capsule, and Jack gets 2 per day, so 10 billion (2 Proviable DC capsules) shouldn't be a problem, lol. 

It's not unusual for their digestive systems to take some time getting back to normal after a digestive illness and antibiotics, especially Flagyl.  

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Thanks, Karen. I, actually, called our regular vet's office this afternoon to ask if it was okay to give them a Proviable DC with each meal, instead of once per day. I did not hear back by dinnertime, so I didn't give it to them with supper. We just got back from Fenway Park, and I sprinkled a capsule on each of their bedtime snacks -- a delicious mixture of rice and chicken :o)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's another thought: A lot of dogs don't do very well with rice, especially dogs who are accustomed to a grain free diet. That could possibly be exacerbating the problem. When feeding a homemade bland diet, I prefer to use chicken or lean ground beef with sweet potatoes rather than rice. Use a 50/50 mixture. A homemade bland diet also contains only about half the calories of most kibbles, so you usually have to feed twice as much, too. 

I'm fairly certain it would not hurt to double the Proviable. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

You know . . . I read about using mashed sweet potatoes the other day, and I am planning on discussing the idea with our vet tomorrow afternoon, when he is scheduled to call me. I have been doubling the amount of their food, and today, I doubled the amount of Proviable at breakfast and gave them two capsules worth with dinner, as well. However, their poop after dinnertime was a mushy-liquid mess. Maybe some sort of digestive enzymes would help? I am out of ideas. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So they got 4 Proviable capsules each? That may have been too much. I thought we were talking about going from 1 per day to 2 per day. 

The kind of digestive enzymes you can buy over the counter are useless and a waste of money. 

I'm kind of stumped here myself. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Eeeshhhhh. I may have misunderstood our vet tech. I went from one capsule each per day to two capsules at each meal. I'm pretty sure, Karen, that's what she told me to do. I'll ask the vet this afternoon when we speak over the phone. Both dogs were loose, though, yesterday before I upped the probiotic dosage. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I honestly have never heard of probiotics making things worse, but in this case, maybe it was too much too soon, going from 1 per day to 4 per day. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

The technician called the office's Nutramax representative yesterday, and learned that any extra would just be flushed out of their systems, and that you really couldn't overdo it. Who knows?

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

By the way, thank you so much for being so generous with your thoughts about this situation. I appreciate it!